One of the issues I like to follow in the broader sci-fi/fantasy/geek subculture is the recent attention to that subculture’s problem with sexism. Since I tend to keep things here focused on Tolkien and fan creation of transformative works (versus the many other ways that people express their fannish appreciation), then I haven’t talked too […]

I am opening this post for any and all who are interested in continuing the slash discussion from LotR Genfic. This discussion has been moved offlist since the list is a gen group and the discussion was starting to touch on issues that don’t necessarily belong on a family-friendly group. So that we could keep […]

In the Arts section of DoubleX magazine this week is an article, The Death of Chick Lit, examining how the quintessential beach-reading genre might have to remake itself somewhat to accommodate its readers’ realities in a world in economic recession. The author, Sarah Bilston, argues that women won’t care as much about conflict spurred by […]

Hey, we all have those words and terms for which we bear an illogical (or maybe not-so-illogical …) loathing. Here are my fannish five. (I should add that this list is relevant to the Silmarillion fandom, perhaps the broader Tolkien fandom in places, but they are hardly representative of Fandom as a Whole, if there […]

Maeglin the iPod died on my way to work today, so I was left alone with my thoughts for the whole of the hour-plus-long drive home. Amid the maelstrom of my thoughts on mythology and women and Tolkien and feminist revision (related to an end-of-term research paper due this weekend), I got to thinking about […]

lease, come inside my humble cottage and have a seat by the fire. Many are the stories here, and they are not the sorts of stories you'll often hear beyond these walls. Yes, the world is listening--and judging--but do not worry. You are safe here. I am the Heretic Loremaster. I read the same books as everyone else, but I read them a little differently: I don't necessarily take them at their word. I like to look at the stories that build our mythological history from the eyes of those disfavored by that history.

My friends, the wind is cold outside, but it is warm in here. Let us brighten the dark of night with lore and song.

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About the Artwork and Quotation: The artwork used on The Heretic Loremaster is "The Styx--Philippo Argenti" by Gustave Doré. Doré is one of the 19th century's most renowned illustrators, perhaps best known for his illustration of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, from which this particular illustration comes.

The quotation in the header comes also from the Divine Comedy. Translated, it reads:

Midway upon the journey of our lifeI found myself within a forest dark,For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
-Inferno I, lines 1-3

Both seemed fitting for this particular project, not to mention breathtaking examples of visual and written artworks in their own rights.